Ship of vessel.



' G. E. ELI A.

SHIP 0B VESSEL.

APPLIOATIOI FILED MAB. 6, 1909i 9665813. I PatentedAug.9,1910.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA, 0F PARIS,-FRANCE.

SHIP OR VESSEL.

T 0 all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA, a subject of the King ofItaly, residing at Hotel Astoria, Avenue des Champs Elysees, Paris, inthe Republic of France, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Ships or Vessels, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to ships and vessels and is particularlyapplicable for use in connection with vessels employed in naval warfare,and has for its object to provide increased protection to those parts ofthe vessel which are liable to torpedo attack or to contact withsubmarine mines.

The invention consists mainly in neutralizing the destructive forceresulting from the sudden generation of a large volume of hot gases onexplosion of the torpedo or mine, by allowing the said gases to expandin a chamber or chambers situated around the ship for reducing theapparent density of charge at the moment of the ships contact with andconsequent explosion of the torpedo or mine, and in opposing to thepartly expanded gases a series of successive resistances extending infront of the part of the ship to be protected and particularly designedwith a view to offering a large number of cooling surfaces to theexplosive gases. By thus providing for the expansion of the explosivegases and the absorption of their kinetic energy as well as their heat,

the said gases are rendered incapable of materially damaging the vitalparts of the.

' ship.

In order that my said invention may be clearly understood and readilycarried into effect I will describe the same with reference to theaccompanying drawings in which Figure l is a transverse section of a portion of a battleship constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig.2 is a similar view taken at a transverse bulkhead. Fig.

3 is a horizontal section on line 3, 3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 3 is a similar view to Fig. 3 showing a modification. Fig. l is adetached view drawn to a larger scale showing a method of connecting theends of the elements of the protecting device to a portion of the ship.Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig. 1 showing a slightly modifiedarrangement of protecting device.

In the arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and :2, the outer wall of thechamber A comprises thin plating 13 supported by light Specification ofLetters Patent.-

Application filed March 6, 1909.

Patented Aug". 9, 1910.

Serial No. 481,573.

A. The outer plating F of the bottom of the ship also carries orterminates in a double plate which extends into the chamber A.

This arrangement constitutes two strong points of attachment for theaforesaid de vice used for resisting the pressure and absorbing thekinetic energy of the explosion gases, said device being hereinafterreferred to as the protecting device. The said arrangement also providesa ready means for enabling the said protecting device to be caused tooccupy a position closer to or further away from the ships sideaccording to requirements. The protecting device shown by these figurescomprises an arrangement of flexible steel wire cables G situated withinthe chamber A and extendingfrom the top to the bottom thereof. Thesecables may conveniently be double and be connected together by bindingsgas shown in Fig. 4 and be secured to the double plates at D and F bybeing looped around strong bolts g which pass through the said doubleplates. The cables G are formed with a bend or pocket which is normallymaintained by means of a number of small steel wire cables H connectedto the main cables G. The cables H individually possess a comparativelysmall breaking resistance and extend one in, front of the other acrossthe aforesaid bend and are separated from each other by interveningspaces which may be gradually reduoed toward the apex of the bend orpocket. A thin metal plate extending over the front surface of thecables G and H completes the protecting device, and prevents theexplosion gases from prematurely passing between the cables.

The chamber A is divided into a number of watertight compartments bytransverse bulkheads a (Fig. 3) and the wire cables are convenientlyarranged in sections, one of which is situated within each compartmeat.In order to prevent the explosion gases from passing between any two ofsuch sections into the waterti 'ht compartments behind the same a battlep ate (4 corresponding to the shape normally assumed by the cables G issupported on each side of the bulkheads a by suitable framings such asa, (0. Another arrangement for effecting this purpose may consist inproviding between two contiguous compartments vertical plates a Fig. 3,corresponding to the shape normally assumed by the cables G and inintermeshing with the said cables horizontal cables G the adjacent endsof which are connected to the plates a by being looped around the boltsa hen a submarine explosion occurs, the thin outer plating and framingsare first ruptured and the explosion gases expand in the chamber A andsuccessively rupture the small cables H. These cables offer a largenumber of cooling surfaces to the explosion gases and virtually act inthe capacity of condensers for reducing the expansion of the said gases.During the time that the cables H are being successively ruptured thecables G are forced backward by the pressure of the explosion gases andare caused to assume a position approximating to that indicated by thedotted line in Fig. l, the thin metal sheet preventing the said gasesfrom entering the watertightcompartments behind the strong cables untilthe latter become ruptured. lVhen this occurs, the explosion gases arepermitted to further expand in the said compartments whereby theirpressure is suliiciently reduced to pre vent any serious damage frombeing inflicted upon the strong or essential framing of the ship.

1n the modification shown in Fig. 5 two screens G G of the strong steelwire cables are employed, the cables G being connected to the top andbottom double plates in the manner above described with reference toFigs. 1 and 2. The cables G however are connected to one of such platesonly, and are attached to the cables G by comparatively weak cables Hwhich gradually increase in length from the free ends of the cables G sothat the cables G are caused to assume the bent position approximatingto that shown in the drawing. By this arrangement when the cables G Gare subjected to the pressure caused by a submarine explosion the cablesH are successively ruptured from the shortest to the longest of suchcables, and the gases in passing between the same meet with a largenumber of cooling surfaces with the result that their expansion ismaterially diminished. During this action the cables G G approximatelyassume the curved position indicated by the dotted line and by reducingthe distance between the cables H as they increase in length,

their resistance is gradually increased and the impact of the explosiongases upon the. cables G G when tl cables H have all been ruptured isreduced. It will be understood that in this arrangement the cables G arecovered by a thin metal sheet to prevent the explosion gases frompassing between such cables into the watertight compartments behind thesame until the cables are ruptured.

hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United Statesis:

l. A device for protecting ships from the elfects of submarineexplosions, comprising a chamber extending around the portion of theship to be protected, a plurality of strong cables arranged within thesaid chamber, and rows of weaker cables connected to the aforesaidcables in such manner as to retain the latter in a partly contractedcondition.

A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarine explosions,comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around the portion of theship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing the strong bulkheadand arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, a plurality of strongcables interposed between the said bulkheads, and rows of weaker cablesconnected to the aforesaid cables in such manner as to retain the latterin a partly contracted condition.

A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarine explosions,comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around the portion of theship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead, incasing the strongbulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, a pluralityof transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the inner and outerbulkheads into a plurality of compartments, a series of strong cablesarranged within the said compartments, and rows of weaker cablesconnected to the aforesaid cables in such a manner as to retain the latter in a partly contracted condition.

a. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a plurality of compartments, and a plurality offlexible resisting members arranged longitudinally one in front of theother within the said compartments and sepa 'ated from each other byintervening spaces.

5. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulk heads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a plurality of compartments, a plurality offlexible resisting members arranged longitudinally one in front of theother within the said compartments, the said members being separatedfrom each other by intervening spaces and arranged to completely coverthe strong bulkhead, expansion chambers intervening between theoutermost of the flexible members and the thin outer bulkhead.

6. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a plurality of compartments, rows of cablesarranged longitudinally between the inner and outer bulkheads, the saidrows being separated from each other by intervening spaces and from thethin outer bulkhead by expansion chamhers.

7. A. device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a series of compartments, a flexible memberdividing each compartment into an inner and outer compartment, and aseries of flexible members connected to the aforesaid member in such amanner as to retain the latter in a partly contracted condition.

8. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a series of compartments, flexible membersdividing the said compartments into inner and outer compartments, and aseries of flexiblememhers connected to the aforesaid members in such amanner as to retain the latter in a partly contracted condition.

9. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a series of compartments, a plurality of strongcables dividing the said compartments into inner and outer compartments,and rows of weaker cables connected to the aforesaid cables in such amanner as to retain the latter in a partly contracted condition.

10. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead in casing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom,aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a series ofcompartments, a plurality of strongcables dividing the said compartments into inner and outer compartments,rows of weaker cables connected to the aforesaid cables in such a manneras to retain the latter in a partly contracted condition and a coveringplate extending in front of the combined cables and having an areaapproximating to the longitudinal area of each compartment.

11. A device for protecting ships froms the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a series of compartments, a plurality of strongcables dividing the said compartments into inner and outer compartments,rows of weaker cables of unequal lengths connected to the aforesaidcables in such a manner as to retain the latter in a partly contractedcondition, a covering plate extending in front of the combined cablesand having an area approximating to the longitudinal area of eachcompartment, and means for preventing the premature escape of theexplosion gases between the adjacent ends of the covering plates.

12. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a series of compartments, a plurality of strongapproximately vertical cables dividing the said compartments into innerand outer compartments, plates extending into the upper and lower partsof the said compartments and connected with suitable parts of the shipsstructure, means for connecting the said cables with the said plates,rows of weaker cables of unequal lengths connected with the strongcables in such a manner as to retain the latter in a partly contractedcondition, transverse framings situated behind the strong cables andcorresponding in shape to the curvature assumed by the latter in theircontracted condition, a covering plate extending in front of thecombined cables and having an area approximating to the longitudinalarea of each com partment, and means for preventing the pre matureescape of the explosion gases between the adjacent ends of the coveringplates.

13. A device for protecting ships from the effects of submarineexplosions, comprising a strong inner bulkhead extending around theportion of the ship to be protected, a thin outer bulkhead incasing thestrong bulkhead and arranged at a considerable distance therefrom, aplurality of transverse bulkheads dividing the space between the innerand outer bulkheads into a series of compartments, a plurality of strongapproximately vertical cables inter-meshing with strong approximatelyhorizontal cables and dividing the said compartments into inner andouter compartments, plates extending into the upper and lower parts ofthe said compartments and connected with suitable parts of the shipsstructure, means for connecting the approximately Vertical cables withthe said plates, rows of weaker cables of unequal lengths connected withthe approximately vertical cables in such a manner as to retain thelatter in a partly contracted condition, transverse framings situatedbehind the. strong cables and approximating in shape to the curvatureassumed by the approximately vertical cables in their contractedcondition, means for connecting the adjacent ends of the approximatelyhorizontal cables together, a covering plate eX tending in front of thecombined cables and having an area approximating to the longitudinalarea of each compartment, and means for preventing the premature escapeof the explosion gases between the adjacent ends of the said cot'eringplates.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GIOVANNI EMANUELE ELIA.

Witnesses T. SELBY XVARDLE, \VALTER J. SKERTEN.

